People often ask me where the smart money is in big data. I often tell them that’s a foolish question, because I’m not an investor — but if I were, I’d look to software as a service.

There are two primary reasons why, the first of which is obvious: Companies are tired of managing applications and infrastructure, so something that optimizes a common task using techniques they don’t know on servers they don’t have to manage is probably compelling. It’s called cloud computing.

The other reason is that the big part of big data really is important if you want to get a really clear picture of what’s happening in any given space. While no single end-user company can (or likely would) address search-engine optimization, for example, by building a massive store comprised of data from hundreds or thousands of companies as well as the entire web, a cloud service…

Today, I came across this presentation on SlideShare that enumerates five trends in B2B marketing. The presentation is titled ‘The Future of Content Marketing: 5 Beyonds‘ and I hope the link works for you. There is a lot of great insight here along with humor and some foul language for those easily offended. I hope the message resonates with you and I’m glad to see someone talking about moving the state of the art for content marketing forward.

Here is a brief summary of the 5 Beyonds mentioned and my comments.

1) Beyond Guttenberg – we continue to use print as the reference for content marketing. Move on! We have smart phones, tablets – all this computing power at our fingertips to present static content. I think responsive web sites will accelerate this change to present more dynamic content.

2) Beyond Search – Let Google change the SEO algorithms. You need to build a community around the brand. SEO Moz is mentioned as a great example. Well deserved shout out and kudos to Rand and the team.

3) Beyond One Size fits All – About time. Gets to the 1st beyond as well. Dynamic and personal content. B2C is already doing this and so is banner ads. Show that you know me and present content that is of interest to me. Not the masses. Having a personalized experience also provides motivation to come back.

4) Beyond Teaching – Don’t just explain it. Provide a way to use it.

5) Beyond Faceless Brands – Put your name on it. And your face. Establishing a relationship aligns with the community concept and builds credibility and authenticity.

When you flip through the deck, you will find that there are more than 5 beyonds. As a tease, there actually are 10 and I’m not going to list them here…use the link above. I will mention that I do like the implications of content islands and platform silos.

For those that take B2B marketing seriously (and, of course you should), this should stir some ideas of your own. What take-aways do you have? How does your B2B strategy align with these trends? Will it change your approach?